New York's JFK Airport has the slowest security lines in America, according to a new study. Travellers there waited an average of 23.1 minutes at TSA checkpoints during summer 2025 — more than double the 9.9-minute average across the 50 busiest US airports.
The ranking comes from Travel Bulletin's 2026 analysis, which combined MyTSA app estimates with TSA throughput data collected over roughly eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August. JFK handled about 4,282 passengers per hour, second only to Los Angeles (around 4,306) — yet LAX didn't make the worst-wait list at all, a reminder that volume alone doesn't determine how fast a line moves.
Chicago O'Hare came second with an average wait of 20.2 minutes, despite processing the third-highest hourly volume in the study. The contrast with its hometown rival is striking: Chicago Midway averaged just 5.7 minutes, so if you're flying domestically and have the choice, the smaller airport may save you serious time.
Newark Liberty ranked third at 17.9 minutes, with Orlando and London Heathrow among its busiest routes. More surprising is number four: Anchorage's Ted Stevens International, averaging 16.3 minutes despite the lowest screening throughput of any airport in the study — roughly 517 passengers per hour. It's proof that smaller airports don't automatically mean faster security. Houston Bush Intercontinental just missed the top five at 13.6 minutes, still well above the national benchmark.
What does this mean for your trip? Checkpoint averages are planning tools, not guarantees — waits swing widely depending on departure banks, terminal and staffing. But if you're flying out of JFK, O'Hare or Newark, especially in summer or with checked bags, pad your arrival time generously and check live wait times in the MyTSA app before you leave for the airport. If you're connecting through O'Hare on a tight international itinerary, the data argues for booking longer layovers.
The study covered 50 of the country's busiest airports; the full ranking suggests waits of around 10 minutes are typical elsewhere, so the top five stand out as genuine outliers worth planning around.
